Camera lens diaphragm



July 2, 1940.

J. w. GALYYON CAIERA LENS DIAPHRAGI Filedlarch 9, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 3 JOHN W6AL YO/Y INVEN TOR AYYTHUVEYS y 2,1940. J. w. GALYON 2,206,086

' CAIEBA LENS DIAPHRAG I Filed larch 9, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 'u Q E "521 l W I 3, z I I i 7 -f/Sb t E g Q g (#78 LENGTH OJ A TTORNE YS July 2, 1940. v J. w, GALYON 2,206,086

cunmwus DIAPHRAGM Fil ed llarh 9, 1939 s Sheets-Sheet s F/e. /0,4 I

/o/v/v M 6443 0 ffli m 161242 A TTORNE YS Patented July 2, 1940 CAMERA LENS DIAPHRAGM John W. Galyon,

Springfield, Ill... assignor to Eastman Kodal: Company,

Rochester, N. 2., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 9, 1939, Serial No. 269,699

9 Claim.

This invention relates .to apparatus for the control of light posures and more making photographic exparticularly to photographic apparatus for regulating the area of a light aperture to assure proper exposure under different conditions of illumination.

An object of the vide an apparatus in vice automatically a as a camera lens dia present invention is to prowhich a light sensitive dedjusts a light opening such phragm, tothe value necesof an adjustable diaphragm or aperture actuated by a photo electric cell and having a construe tion which is comp-act, rugged, and one which utilizes the motive power of subjecting the meter to additional This object is attained in brief, by

strain.

the meter without stress or mounting the aperture defining members, such diaphragm blades, separate from the movable part of the meter.

A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic diaphragm adapted an assembled part thereby facilitatin actual apertures to apertures.

An object of to be built as of an interchangeable lens the provision of different secure the same relative a somewhat different embodiment of my invention is to provide a separate attachment which may be of a camera objective aperture thereof.

Other objects and mounted on or held in front to control the effective advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates, one embodiment of the inventio tion incorporated in front of an ordinary n. Fig. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the invenan attachment to be held in camera objective.

Fig. 3 shows a side elevation of the arrangement shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 shows a rear ment shown in Fig. moved.

elevation of the arrange- 2 with the rear cover re- Fig. 5 illustrates an embodiment of the invention simplified to permit easy mathematical consideration of the principle thereof.

Fig. 6 shows a preferred embodiment of the invention.

tive area of the diaphragm shown in Fig. 6 as the blades close.

, Figs. 9A, 9B and 96 show correspondingly dia= phragms to be used with interchangeable lenses of different focal lengths.

Figs. 1th, 103 and show a particularly compact embodiment of the invention.

In Fig. 1 only the essential parts of the invention are shown. The various parts of the lens assembly are separated for easy visualization oi the units. A camera, which maybe either a still or motion picture camera is shown in perspective at ill and is provided with an objective of which two components it and 22 are shown. lhe lens assembly includes a shutter it with a shutter speed setting lever it axially mounted between the lens components ii and ill. The invention is equally applicable to cameras with focal plane shutters.

According to the invention there is provided a lens diaphragm including blades l5 and it which-are adjustable to control the aperture. The blades it and it are mounted on supporting arms ii and it which are carried by a U shaped spring member is rigidly supported by a clamp it, which clamp is preferably connected lib rigidly, to the camera housing it, but is shown I ture depends on the separation of the blades iii 4 and it and hence on the angle between the arms ll and it. This angle is controlled through pivots 2i, connecting links 22, and a lever 23 by a galvanometer 24 upon which the lever is mounted so as to rotate with the coil of the galvanometer. The galvanometer shown is of the moving coil type but any type may be used. The moving part will be referred to as the rotor-to mean either a moving coil or moving magnet.

ing through the leads 25, which current is supplied from a photoelectric cell 26 through resistances 27 and 28. In the embodiment shown the resistance 21? is adjusted by, and in accordance with, the setting of the shutter control lever it and the resistance 28 may be adjusted to correspond to the speed sensitivity of the film used. However, it is to be understood that any of the known methods. for adjusting photoelectric cell output in accordance with the shutter speed and film speed, such as by masking the area of the photoelectric cell 26, may be used instead of the resistance methods shown. The photoelectric cell 26 may, as shown, be pointed toward the subject The degree of rotation of this gal-. A vanometer rotor 24 depends on the current ilowcoil of the galvanometer 24} so that the light incident thereon is substantially the same intensity as that incident on the lens it. The intensity of the light reachingthe aperture is proportional to this incident intensity. 011 the other hand, with proper calibration and with correction for known factors such as the whiteness of the subject, the device may be arranged so that the cell 26 races the source of illumination. In this case, also, the light through the aperture has an intensity substantially pro portional to that incident on the photoelectric cell.

"it is well known that only a small current is available from suitable photoelectric cells and hence it is desirable that this current do no more work than is necessary. The construction pro vided by the present invention assures that the amount of work will be the minimum. lit will he noted that the blades 95 and iii are supported by the spring i9 and the galvanometer 2 3 sup= ports only a minimum of weight," in fact, even the weight of the links 22 and the levers 23 is shared by the two pivots 2B. Thus the galvanozneter rotor 24 supports only a small amount of weight in excess of its own and the current therethrough merely has toovercome the tension of the spring i9 which can be made to have A construction of the any desired amount. blades l5, l6, and the'connecting links it which I have found particularly practical, is shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. I l

The arrangements shown in Figs; 2;3, and 4 involve the invention in the form of an attach= ment to be used'over any lens era-given focal length. This arrangement comprlses a housing 30 with an opening 3l'through which light can pass to "acamera objective not shown. Thelower part of the front surface of theattachment is provided with a photoelectric cell 32 having some form of view'defining means shown as bailles 34. According to the invention, the opening 3!- has an adjustable aperture controlled by diaphragm blades I 5 and I8. These'blades are'mounted in the same manner as in Fig. 1, as is apparent par: ticularly from Fig. 4. In the arrangement shown. the output 01' the photoelectric cell 32, is" con nected directly through contacts 83 and 35 to the However, if desired, adjustable resistances may be inserted to permit use of the device with'diflerent shutter speeds and difleren't film speeds. The magnetic field for the galvanometer coil 24 is provided by a magnet 36 shown as a permanent horse shoe magnet. In practice I have found it desirable to construct the blades l6 and II ofthiri metal foil and to use extremely fine aluminumwire or silk thread for the connecting links 31. These connecting links'are passed through small loops 38 on the arms I! and I8, which small loops correspond to the pivots 2| of Fig; l. The operation of the device is as follows:

When a photograph is being made, the amount of light transmitted to the lens is controlled by the aperture defining means l5 and II. The setting of-these blades depends on the amount of rotation of the needle 23 mountedon the galvanometer 24, 'whichin turn depends on the' amount of current "coming from the photo-electric cell 32. By suitable arrangement (of the area of the photoelectric cell, the resistance in the circuit, the coil of the galvanometer 2!, the

shape of the pole pieces of this galvanometer, which pole pieces comprise the magnet 36, the length of the lever 23 and the connecting link 31, the tension and the rate of change of tension O: As the blades'dfl move inward, i.

ot'the spring i9 and the amount of leverage provided by the arms ill and B8) the response of the instrument to the intensity of the light incident on the cell it, is arranged so that the area of the aperture is inversely proportional to the intensity of. illumination falling on the cell so as to provide constant exposure. In practice, I have the phenomenon known as the failure of thereciprocity law of photographic exposures. 0n the other hand, for convenience in describing the principle of my invention, only the simple case where the area of the aperture should be inversely proportional to the intensity of the illuinitiation will be considered.

This consideration is most easily described with reference to Fig. 5 wherein the spring ill is re- I placed by a pivot at the point T and two springs 6!! operating to separate the blades of the diaphragm it. These blades 40 carry small projections 42 which ress against the lever arms 43. The blades Ml' are restrained by guides, not shown, to move only horizontally. The galvanometerneedle and connecting links control the position of lugs =15 which are restrained by the guides 44 to move horizontally on the broken line 16. For purposes of mathematical computation various points on this diagrammatic arrangement are labeled with letters. The optic axis. of the lens system passes through the point e. toward each'other, the'intersection points M and N 'move verticallytoward the point 0 making the area oithe' diaphragm smaller. The following mathematical facts are obvious from this Fig. 5. Aperture=twice area Mn1v=2u2o 1 Length BO=AO-AB (2) Let AB=constant C1 '(2) Aperture=2(AO-C1) (3) DP PT Let this equal a constant C2 Let EP (length of galvanometer arm) =Ca Let DE (length oi connecting linkl=C4 Then by simple geometry,

-AO= c',(1 )P)=c,(c3 cos Hyena-0, sin 0) -(4) The relationship between the length A0 and the angle as given by this equation is represented by the curve in 7. The actual shape of this curve depends on the constants C2, C3 and C4.

The relationship of aperture area to the length A0 depends on the shape of the notches in the diaphragm blades 40. InFig. 5, these blades 40 have rectangular notches with right angles at the point B; thusthe aperture area is accordin to Equation '3.- .Thus Equations 3 and 4 give the relationship of area tothe angle 0.

As pointed out above, for automatic exposure control it'is in general necessary to have the area or the lens aperture vary inversely with the intensity of the light-incident on the lens. That is:

Q Area I where C: is a constant and I is light intensity.

(where G5 is a constant). This last relationship together with the one already established be-. tween area and angle 0, gives the relationship between the current 2 and the angle 0 which is necessary to produce constant exposure. Reviewing each or the steps just outlined, it will be seen that this last relationship depends on the shape of the diaphragm blades and the constants (31. C2, C3, and C4. Th se constants determine how much and what partoi the curve 50 is used as well as the shape of this curve.

In practice, when this relationship is com= puted for any set of constants 01-434, the coil 24, the pole pieces of the galvanometer and the spring 69 (or ll) are arranged so that the response is in acccrdancewith this relationship. This response is controlled in the usual manner employed in designing. ammeters and galvanorneters and involves the adjustment of the spring tension, the rate of change of this spring tension (as produced by the spring I9 or H) and the shape of the pole pieces of the field magnet 36.

In actual practice, the point A is rigidly connected to the blades as shown in Figs. 1, 4 and 6. Similarly the point 45 is rigidly connected to the arm 43. Thus the points A and B move in an are about the point T rather than horizontally. However, for all practical purposes such arrangements are mathematically equivalent to that shown in Fig. 5. If desired, the

notches in the diaphragm blades may be curved to compensate for the slight arc through which the point B moves. In this case the notches are symmetrical about an are rather than about are on the no.

ery the starting point. lest-ed by inspection or the curve mind the effect of curve. Thus ti will. he utilizing the most desirable the curve The agitation of this cu.

developed in connection with 5 also i'olds for Fig. 6:

The area of the aperture afiecting the lens il is dependent on the shape of the curve 6% (i. e. the shape of the notch) and the length J0. The aperture area is twice the area M-K--LN. The curve 48 happens to be one which is easy to make and the relationship between aperture area and the length OJ as shown in Fig. 8 by the curve 5i, was determined graphically by plotting the arbitrarily selected curve 48 on graph paper and counting the squares thereunder. Any curve may be similarly arbitrarily chosen, but the results of the computations indicate that one of the general shape shown, gives the most useful relationship, i. e. one which results in'the utilization of the satisfactory part of the curve 50 and which gives a uniform distribution of utility throughout the whole range used. Using the diaphragm shown, equal changes in angle a produce the same factorial change in aperture area.

In Fig. 6, the diaphragm is open to the so-called startingposition indicated by the broken line 52 onthe curve 5i. When the blades are entirely clear of the lens ll, further movement causes no further changes as indicated by the flat portion of the curve 5! from the pbint 53 on. With the particular blades shown, the following relation, shown by the curve 5| holds.

1.830 sq. cm.

From Equation 4 shown as curve 50 the ing relationship holds.

follows0 00 Y 1.52 1.32 1.14 1 .98 .84 .72 .03 .55 .49 .45 .53 .so .42 .30 .21 .15 .11 .08 .06 .05

way of example and is an application of the gen-.

' eral rules given in connection with Fig. 5.

The example shown in Fig. 6 is for a diaphragm to be used with an i-/3.5. '70 mm. focal length lens.

The diameter of the aperture'at maximum open-- ing is 2 cm. With 'the'corners oi' the lens cut oil as shown in Fig. 6, the lens operates at an I aperture effectively equal to f/4. In Fig. 6:

AJ=constant C'1=.5 cm. OT/PT=constant Cz=2 EP=constant C3=.5 cm; DE=constant C4=.93 cm.

This last constant was selected so that starting from the point as shown in Fig. 6 the meter needle will be approximately at the angle 0:45 degrees. Actually the diaphragm may open more Computing from this data for the arrangement shownin Fig. 6 in which the starting point has an aperture f/ i, the following relationship H holds. v t-ations for this particular arrangement will be outlined in detail. This is however merely by Relative aperture U8 0 de es 87 This table indicates that the particular example of Fig. 6 is practically ideal as far as required angular sensitivity of the galvanometer is concerned. That is, the galvanometer must respond inverse logarithmically so that each diaphragm stop requires almost the same angular increment in the movement of the needle. It has been found by actual measurement that photoelectric cells commercially available deliver bctween 3 and 10 microamperes when the illumination is such that correct exposure will be obtained using an ordinary film; an aperture of f/4 and a shutter speed of of a second. This example is givenmerely byway of showing about what sensitivity is required in the galvanometer.

, For. the blades to be entirely clear of the lens so that the full aperture of f/3.5 is available, OJ 5 must .be 2.54 cm.; this is determined graphically from the curve 48. However, with the arrangement shown in Fig. 6 the maximum value of OJ i. .e. when. equals 0, is 2.36 which graphically gives a maximum relative aperture of f/3.6. The 10 present invention is not concerned with the various alternative types of meter designs. However, attention is drawn to the fact that the spring tension such as produced by spring I! increases as the diaphragm closes and that this 1 increase in tension aids in arranging that the response of the meter is inverse logarithmically,

as required by the above equation. J

Since the relative aperture of a lens is the ratio of its focal length to its diameter, lenses of different focal lengths require different sets of blades to give the same effect. The arrangements shown in Figs. 9A, 9B, and 9C are equivalent to each other when used with 35, "Land I05 mm. lensesrespectively. The arrangement shown in 85 Fig. 9B is identical with that shown in Fig. 6.

- The lever 62 is provided with a slot 60 which is arranged to be coupled to a galvanometer. The blades of the diaphragm 63 and 64 and the con- .necting link 6| are exactly the same as those 30 described in connection with Fig. 6. In Fig. 9A the needle 51 and the connecting link 56 are respectively just half the length of the needle 62 and'the connecting link ii. The blades 58 and 59 are congruent to but have linear dimen- 35 sions only half those of the blades 63 and 84.

The needle!" is provided with slot 55 which is the same size as the slot 80 to flt over the galvanometer needle coupling, not shown. The arrangement shown in Fig. 90 has the needle 81. (a the connecting link 66 and the blades 68 and 89 multiplied up from the corresponding ones shown in Fig. 9A by a factor 3. The slot 85 is similar to the slots 55 and 60. Any suitable means may be provided for bringing the galvanometer rotor into the position in which it will couple with the slot 55, 60 or I! when the interchangeable unit including the lens anddiaphragm is mounted on the camera-to which the galvanometer is preferable connected rigidly.

n Thus in the arrangements shown in Figs. 9A, 9B and 9C the constants C1, C3 and 04 have all been multiplied by the conversion factor. This has many practical advantages over equivalent systems wherein the constant C: is multiplied u by the conversion factor.

were multiplied by a conversion factor, 1. e. the ratio of OT to PT change, either the distance between 0 and P yvouldabe changed or the distance between 0 and TWv'ould be changed. The

Q first alternative would require that the galvanometer which is in general fixed to the camera would have to be at an'adiustable distance from the optic axis of the lens. The second alternative is equally impractical since if T is ver'y'far Q from P' the arrangement would be cumbersome and if T approaches very close to P the blades of the diaphragm would move in very decided arcs rather than horizontally in front of the lens.

If the constant C:

In Figs. 10A, 10B, and 10, a particularly com-- pact arrangement is .shown. wherein both the photoelectric cell 12 and the magnet 19 which provides the field for the galvanometer 80, surround the aperture II.

In the specific arrangement the housing is designated as 10, the leads from the cell 12 to the galvanometer 80 as 13, the diaphragm blades as I4 and 15, the supporting arms as 16, separate 1 springs for each arm as 11 clamped to the housing by clamps "and the connecting links to the galvanometer as ill and 82. The notches in the diaphragm blades correspond to the straight sided notches of Figs. 1-5 but are curved to compensate for the are through which the blades move. Obviously these compensating curves can be combined with the curves of Fig. 6 to give the eflects of both.

' As shown in Fig. 103, this automatic diaphragm may be part of an interchangeable lens unit in which is anobjective comprising com ponents 83. Several alternative arrangements are possible: (1) the diaphragm .control unit may be entirely separate'from the lens as in Figs. 2, 3 and 4; (2) the cell and galvanometer may be on the camera housing", the diaphragm being part of the interchangeable unit as discussed in connection with Figs. 9A, 9B and 9C; (3) the lensesmay be separately interchangeable and the diaphragm control unit built into the camera with either a manual adjustment such as resistance 28 in Fig. 1 or one controlled by some actuating member on the interchangeable lens mount to control the sensitivity of the unit in accordance with the focal length of the lens being used (4) both the lens and the diaphragm unit may be a non-interchangeable part of the camera.

Having thus described my invention, in detail, shown several embodiments of it and given the mathematical theory thereof, I wish to point out that the invention is not limited to these specific arrangements but is of the scope of the appended claims- I claim:

1. An adjustable diaphragm for regulating an aperture in accordance with the rotation of a galvanometer rotor which comprises two diaphragm blades movable from opposite, sides across the aperture and in unison to and from the center thereof, two lever arms each supported at one end to rotate thereabout and each, at the other end, rigidly connected'to and supporting one of the diaphragm blades, resilient means urging the lever arms and diaphragm blades away r from the aperture centre and means operable by the galvanometer rotor and connected to. the

lever arms for moving said arms and blades against the force of the resilient means toward the aperture centre. 00

2. An adjustable diaphragm for regulating an aperture in accordance with the rotation of a. galvanometer rotor which comprises two diaphragm blades movable from opposite sides across the aperture and in unison to and from the center thereof, two lever arms respectively andrigidly connected at. one end to and supporting the blades,'said-lever am being arranged with their other ends near each other and being supported to rotate substantially about said other ends, re- 10 silient means urging the lever arms and diaphragm blades away from the aperture centre and means located substantially symmetricallybetween the lever-arms operable by the galvanometer rotor and connected to the lever arms for 1s front of a camera moving'said arms and blades against the force of the resilient means toward the aperture centre.

3. An adjustable aperture at least partially in accordance with the intensity of light incident thereon comprising two diaphragm blades movable from opposite sides across the aperture and in unison to and from the center thereof, two lever arms each supported at one endto rotate 'thereabout and, each,- at

ing one of the diaphragm blades, resilient means urging the lever arms and diaphragm blades away from the aperture center, a photoelectric cell exposed and-responsive to light substantially proportional to that incident on the aperture, a galvanometer connected to the photoelectric cell, the galvanometer rotor being operable in accordance with the output of the cell and means op-. erable by the galvanometer rotor and connected to the lever arms for moving said arms and blades against the force of the resilient means toward the aperture centre s 4. An aperture control unit to be positioned in lens comprising a housing having a light transmitting tunnel therethrough,

adapted to be positioned in axial alignment with the lens to form the aperture therefor, two dia-- phragm blades within the housing movable from opposite sides across the tunnel and in unison-to and from the center thereof, two lever arms respectively and rigidly connected at one end to and supporting th'e blades, resilient members supporting the other ends of the lever arms and clamped to an inner wall of the housing, said resilient members urging the lever arms and diaphragm blades away from the tunnel center, a photoelectric cell mounted on the outside of the housing, a galvanometer supported within the housing and having a rotor operated in accordance with the output of thecell and means connected to the lever arms and operated by said rotor for moving the lever arms and blades against the force of the resilient members toward the tunnel center a distance proportional to the output of the photoelectric cell. I I

5. An interchangeable lensunit comprising a lens, a mount for the lens, an adjustable diaphragm carried by the mount for regulating the aperture of the lens in accordance with the diaphragm for regulating an claim 5 in which the mount diaphragm blades rotation of a galvanometer rotor, said diaphragm diaphragm; blades movable ing the lever arms and .diaphragm'blades away the other end, rigidly connected to and supportfrom the optic axis-of the lens and means operthe lever arms for moving said arms and blades said optic axis.

6. An interchangeable lens unit according to also carries the galvanometer rotor, a photoelectric cell and means connectingthe rotor to the cell to operate the rotor in accordance with the output of the cell.

'7. An adjustable diaphragm for one of a series of interchangeable lenses comprising'a diaphragm according to claim 1 in which the length of the lever arms and the distance from the aperture centre of the galvanometer rotor are constant for all lenses of the series and the dimensions of the and the dimensions of the means operable by the rotor are directly proportional to the focal length of said one of the lenses.

8, Diaphragm apparatus for use with a camera lens, comprising two diaphragm blades, a pivotedarm supporting each blade, a rotatable meter coil having a shaft, and means coupling the two arms, respectively, to diametrically opposed points on the shaft of said coil, whereby angular movement of said coil moves said blades without imposing other than 9. In a photographic camera in which a meter coil having a shaft is supplied with a current proportional to the required exposure aperture, two

' diaphragm blades cooperating to define the exposure aperture, an

a torsional load on said shaft;

across the aperture to and =able by the galvanometer rotor and connected to 

